Ishidori Matsuri can be literally translated from Japanese as "stone bringing festival." It is a festival in Kuwana, located in Mie Prefecture. The festival starts on the first Saturday of August, at midnight, and runs throughout the weekend. Every town within the central part of the city has its own 3 wheeled, highly decorative festival cart. Each cart has a large taiko drum at the back and several kane along the sides. Each town has a particular sequence for each of those instruments, creating a unique and identifying sound. Another identifying feature is the placement of the kakegoe, or shouts. Over the course of the weekend, the carts are pulled toward Kasuga Shrine for presentation, performing along the way. With over 30 carts with distinct rhythms, it has been said that the Kuwana festival is the loudest festival in Japan.
History
The festival originally started in the Edo period. It is believed to have originated from the custom of local worshipers selecting stones from the Machiya River to take to the local shrine. The stones were ceremoniously transported to the shrine on carts, while taiko and kane were played.
In 1981, the festival was designated as an asset of intangible culture for Mie Prefecture. In 2007, it was designated as a national asset of intangible culture.
Though each town has its own schedule of events and traditions, the following is the generalized schedule of events, with the main event being on the First Sunday of August:
This is the practice time with the festival carts. On the 20th, some carts will gather together in one particular town to end the practice session in camaraderie. They can not touch the carts again until Tatakidashi, which is at midnight between Friday night and Saturday morning before the First Sunday of August. Around this time, there is a gender-specific competition between the young adults of each town, though not all towns choose to compete.
July 20
There is a Kawarabarai Ceremony at Machiya River to pray for a safe festival.
Weekend before the Festival
Each town readies its carts; polishing, cleaning, and setting up components. They also mark the festival path with streamers hanging from telephone lines, and otherwise prepare for the festival, though there is no drumming until Tatakidashi. 3 days before the Festival
Bamboo is gathered to decorate the festival meeting places.
Each age group attends their local shrine for the Okattsan Ceremony, which includes singing and praying. The children and adults, with the exception of the young adults, move the cart to its festival position, as was determined in March. Much later, the young adults return to the group after much drinking.
1 day before the Festival
Friday night leads up to Tatakidashi. At midnight, all the towns are signaled to start drumming simultaneously. After playing into the early hours of the morning, the group will retire, typically meeting once more at 10am.
The festival carts are paraded through their towns on this day, and once again it leads up to silence, awaiting the next Tatakidashi.
Festival Day
At 2am, there is another Tatakidashi. The taikos and kane start playing simultaneously and the carts are paraded around their town for another long night of celebration. The day is very similar to the previous one. During the day on Sunday, the young adults drink while once again the others put the cart into its specific order. Later, the young adults join in, and each town makes its way to Kasuga Shrine.
Participating Towns
The following is a list of the current participating towns:
Group 1 - Uehon-Machi ; Hagoromoren which includes Hon-Machi, Kitahon-Machi, and Higashisenba-Cho ; Nishisenba-Cho ; and Hanamachiren which includes Kawaguchi-Machi, and Edo-Machi
Group 2 - Miyadori, Kyo-Machi, Kata-Machi
Group 3 - Misakidori ; and Miyakita which includes Kitauo-Machi, Miya-Machi, Furo-Machi
Group 4 - Minamiuo-Machi, Ta-Machi, and Shokunin-Machi
Group 5 - Yotsuya-Cho, Kaji-Machi, and Irieyoshi-Machi
Group 6 - Shin-Machi, Tenma-Cho, and Kaya-Machi
Group 7 - Kasuga-Cho ; Shimizu-Cho ; and Takara-Machi which includes Hoden-Cho, and Shinhoden-Cho
Group 8 - Tera-Machi 、Tsutsumibara, Imakata-Machi, Imanaka-Machi, and Imakita-Machi
Group 9 - Higashinabeya-Machi, Nishinabeya-Machi, Kakehi, Higashiyada-Machi, Nishiyada-Machi, Fukue-Machi
Group 10 - Umamichi ; Nishiumamichi which includes Umamichi-Nichome, and Umamichi-Sanchome ; Nishisakae-Machi which includes Sakae-Machi, and Nishigawara ; Shinyada-ichome ; and Ueno-Machi
Group 11 - Kotobuki-Cho, Chuodori, and Higashitokiwa-Cho
